


This Isn't A Roadtrip

by pinklights



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Bucky and Kate are bros, Bucky asked for Hawkeye he didn't expect Kate, F/M, Gen, Natasha is Missing, Red Room (Marvel), Tags Are Hard, this isn't a roadtrip but it sure feels like one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-09 02:10:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18907375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinklights/pseuds/pinklights
Summary: Natasha is missing and Bucky enlists the help of Hawkeye to get her back, except the Hawkeye that showed up on the tarmac wasn't a blonde hipster with ketchup on his face. It was an equally sarcastic brunette in a purple suit who packed lotion and face creams because god forbid the flight over dried out her skin. She was fucking Hawkeye.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading Tales of Suspense where Clint and Bucky try to find Natasha and thought, hm, what if Kate went on a mission with Mr. Tall, Dark and Broody? This won't be following Tales of Suspense or any canon plot because my heart can't handle that. This is a sitcom, everyone please calm down.

Natasha was missing and it took Bucky a day and a half to figure out who was behind it. The last time he heard from her, she was tracking down someone from the fallen Red Room. He insisted that he helped her, insisted that they went on this mission together, but she refused. She always refused help and he really didn't want her to go down that rabbit hole alone but he didn't want to push her either, so he told her she could call him whenever she needed. That was three weeks ago and the only other person who knew where she was going was her accountant, so when her accountant ended up calling  _him_ asking where she was, he went on full Find Natasha mode.

He wanted to go alone because God knew he could handle himself, but he thought he could really use some back-up on this. He didn't want to bother Steve or Bobbi - Natasha wouldn't have liked it - so he called the only other person he could think of. And if he wasn't sure that there was something hidden in the great Russian tundra he was about to ransack, he wouldn't have done this. But alas, he left Hawkeye a message and gave him specifics about the op. Bucky didn't care if he showed up or not, but he was kind of counting on it.

What he expected was Clint Barton with his arrows slung on his shoulder, one hand on his bow and another on a hotdog sandwich. What he got as a girl in a purple catsuit with luggage and sunglasses on. Great, Bucky thought, he sent his sidekick.

"I can see that you're disappointed." She called out as she approached him.

"Where's Barton?" He asked when she was in normal speaking voice distance. 

"He's preoccupied at the moment. Being a building owner keeps you occupied." She shrugged and looked at the jet behind him. "That's a pretty bird."

Bucky had an option. He could send the girl home because he didn't ask for  _her_ or take her with him to Russia. He took a deep breath and led her into the quinjet he had  _borrowed_ from SHIELD. The girl, Kate, dragged her luggage behind her and he almost groaned out loud at how ridiculous this whole thing was. He sat in the cockpit and checked their stats, closing all exits and getting ready to leave. 

"So... " Kate stood in the middle of the plane with a small pouch in her hands looking very confused. He'd almost forgotten that he wasn't going with a seasoned agent. God, he was going to kill Clint Barton.

"Sit here and don't touch anything." He sighed again and took a deep breath. This was going to be a long flight. Kate sat in silence for the most part, looking out of the window and humming to herself. She'd ask him a random question every twenty minutes though. Where exactly were they going? Why didn't he ask for Captain America to back him up? Why did he call Clint? Did he know that Lucky was the goodest boy in the world? Did he have snacks? Did have in-flight entertainment? How often did he clean his mask? Wasn't it more efficient to have his hair tied back on missions? 

Bucky answered her questions promptly: Somewhere in Siberia. He's busy. He knew Natasha. Who the hell was Lucky? He had snacks in the compartment beside her. Everyday. No comment. It was like talking to Clint only with more pop-culture references he didn't understand. 

"So... you and Black Widow, huh?" The sun was setting somewhere over Poland when she asked. She'd been eating some trail mix that she's brought along with her. 

He didn't answer. Everyone who knew them knew already. He didn't want to tell stories about them. It was an extremely long one with recurring themes of coming together and falling apart. It wasn't like in the movies. "Clint told me you've been on-again-off-again for like a hundred years or something. I'm guessing this time, it's _on_?"

"It's complicated." It always was when it came to them. He wished that in an alternate universe, they weren't this chaotic, that they led a simpler life, that they didn't keep missing each other. He also wished that Bishop would sleep or something. How was she still awake?

Kate was silent for a while as she typed in something on her phone. He glanced at her and it looked like she was on one of those bird apps. _Kids these days._

When he thought she had dropped the topic, she suddenly spoke. "You love her?"

It took him some time to answer, not because he didn't know the answer to the question, but because no one's asked him that question before. His and Natasha's friends kind of all just went along with whatever it was they had. One day they were together and the next they weren't. Was that love?

"You love her." She answered for herself. When Bucky looked back at Kate again, she had this grin on her face. "No one would stupidly and willingly go to icy hell Russia for someone they didn't love. It's cute."

She finally unzipped the little pouch she had with her then and pulled up a bunch of little tubes and lined them up on the console. The sun was lower in the sky now. She started wiping her face with a sort of wet tissue and then applied a cream. All Bucky could do was watch. He's seen this ritual done before, but never before a mission. Maybe she was finally going to sleep?

"What? The air here is dry as fuck and I'm not about to age ten years for a mission." 

"I didn't say anything."

Silence fell between them again and he was actually satisfied that she didn't press on. He didn't like talking about personal things when he was on a mission, it was difficult for him enough as it is to talk about personal stuff period. But on a mission? With someone he barely knew? No. He wasn't going to do that. 

"You know Romeo and Juliet?" She said after a while.

"I went through the American public school system, same as you Bishop."

"Yeah, you guys  _aren't_ that. Not Bonnie and Clyde either." That was what she was thinking about all this time? Which fictional couple he and Natasha resembled? He had to take another breath. He closed his eyes for a moment, the bird's been on autopilot since they crossed the Atlantic. The only reason he hadn't gotten up to stretch his legs was because Kate was there and he was afraid that she was going to touch something and kill them.

"I'll figure it out." He heard her say, but he wasn't so sure if she was talking to him or herself. Bucky had a clear plan. Get there, kill a bunch of Red Room goonies, get Natasha out, and go home. Why they took her, he had no idea. What was important was that he got her out of there. The Red Room was the last place they both wanted to be and somehow that's where they kept getting dragged to. 

He felt Kate moving in her seat and he braced herself for another question but instead, music started playing. He didn't listen to music much, that was more of Natasha's thing, and when she did it was most likely classical. This one had words in it. It was nice, but he didn't pay it much attention though, he needed to rest before they landed. 

The music ended abruptly followed by a vibrating sound and then a ringtone. "Kate Bishop, aka the better Hawkeye speaking."

He could hear a man on the other side of the phone call but he couldn't understand what he was saying.

"I'm fine." Kate was whispering but it didn't do much. Bucky could still hear her. "Well, you never take me anywhere." 

Kate unfastened her seatbelt then and stood to go to the back of the jet, whisper-yelling into her phone. Bucky shouldn't really be listening to the conversation she was having but it wasn't like he can shut his ears. She wasn't the best whisperer either. He was surprised she was getting any service at all at this altitude but the 21st century was constantly evolving. 

"I won't die." He heard. "Bye, I'll see you at home." 

Kate slumped back into her seat and sighed before turning on the music again. It hadn't even occurred to Bucky that Kate had people waiting for her to come home or that she even had a place to call _home_ to begin with. He didn't have that. Home wasn't a place for him.

They had about three hours to kill before they would arrive in the middle of snowy, snowy Russia. It didn't have that much of an effect to him with being the literal _Winter Soldier_ and all, but he thought Kate's little purple number wasn't going to cut it when it was time to go. He got out of his seat (which startled her apparently) and went to the back of the jet where the fluffy SHIELD coats were. He was  _borrowing_ them. It wasn't like he wasn't going to return it afterward.

"You'll freeze to death if you go out in that thing." He handed her the coat and went back to his seat. "Have you ever fought an army of assassins before?"

"Not really." Her face lit up then, turning in her seat to face him again. "Why?"

"Well, I'm not sure what's down there but there's a big chance that there's at least a decent sized group of assassins. They could be as young as twelve years old. Girls." 

Kate quirked an eyebrow at him. "Little girls? You called for backup because you're fighting against little girls?"

He could see how she was suppressing a laugh and he rolled his eyes for the nth time since he met her. "They're not just girls. They're killers."

"You're scared of kids. Is that why you and Black Wido--"

"Natasha was one of them a long time ago. The best of them." _She was just a kid_ , he reminded himself, _she didn't know what she was talking about._ "I need you to be prepared. I don't want to hurt the girls, as deadly as they are, they're victims in this too. If ever, I just need to contain them."

"Contain little killer girls. Got it."

Kate didn't say anything else after that. The remaining couple of hours were spent eating snacks and listening to music. Well, more like _Kate_ eating snacks and listening to music while Bucky prepared a number of exit strategies for them if ever things went south. No matter what, he was going to get this Hawkeye home or else the other Hawkeye was going to have his neck, he knew that much was sure. Clint Barton might have been a _very_ lucky man when it came to physical injuries, but Kate wasn't Clint. 

Bucky landed the jet about half a mile away from where the facility was. He gave Kate some instructions: be quiet, don't shoot people for the heck of it, be quiet, if it gets too much she was to flee the scene, be quiet, head to the extraction point the moment it goes south, _be quiet._

Kate rolled her eyes. "I know what I'm doing, Mr. Winter Soldier. I'm fucking Hawkeye." 

There was a determination in her eyes Bucky's never seen on her before. Maybe he _has_ been treating her like a kid all this time, but that's only because she was, at least to him. He never doubted her skills. If he did, he would have sent her home the minute he saw her. He's heard enough about her to know she was good. Stubborn, yes, maybe reckless, but a good shot nonetheless. Or at least he was counting on it. 

They'd hopped on the bike to cover more ground quicker, speeding through the trees until they stopped at what looked like a harmless bunker. "This is... underwhelming," Kate commented, peering over his shoulder.

"The rest of it is--" An explosion erupted a couple of hundred meters away from them which sent the ground quaking. "--underground."

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bucky and Natasha are complicated but Kate and Clint might be even more so. Also, shitty action sequences.

By the time they got inside the facility, alarms were already blazing. However, there was no one in sight. Bucky took lead, drawing his gun close and ready to shoot. Kate did the same with her bow and arrow. For once, there were no weird and ill-timed jokes. She looked serious, alert.

"Do you have any idea _where_ she is?" Kate whispered once they rounded a corner. Still no sign of anyone being down there.

"No." He said plainly.

Before Kate could speak again, another explosion erupted. The walls around them rumbled. They needed to move fast or else the entire place was going to collapse on them. Bucky started moving towards the direction of where the last explosion was, Kate at his heels.

"You know, usually we'd run _away_ from things that exploded."

Bucky heard people up ahead, yelling. The alarms didn't make it easy for him to understand what they were yelling about. Something about girls. He knew he was going in the right direction then. It took him a couple of light steps to reach the first one, slinging his gun behind him and twisting his head forcefully, snapping his neck.

" _Winter Soldier!_ " One cried out in Russian, a second from shooting him before he reached the man's gun with his left arm and twisted the barrel as the man pulled the trigger, making it explode in his hand.

The others tried to stop him, but they were met with arrows to the leg and ankles. Kate, way behind him, nodded for him to continue down the hallway. "I can handle this."

There were only two more guys and they needed to move. They were both met with kicks to the face and a dislocated shoulder for the poor soul who tried to restrain her.

"What the hell is this never-ending maze?" He heard Kate, close behind him again. They were running through the halls now, trying to peek in every room to see if anyone was there, if Natasha was there.

"I don't know. During my time, the Red Room was just a house." It was a very big house with secret passages under it, but still a house. Nothing this advanced or this complicated to navigate. Whoever set them up again had funding from people with deep pockets.

They'd been jogging lightly for what felt like forever under red lights and the annoying sound of the alarms when they heard more people yelling, this time with gunshots going off. " _Stop them._ " They said in Russian. " _Find the others._ "

Bucky peeked around the corner to see what the commotion was about when a woman ran past him to the other side of the hall. She didn't seem to notice him, focused on getting away from the men in the room. Soon another girl zipped past him again. More gunshots. More yelling. Until finally the last person was begging for his life. Bucky approached the room down the corridor, the last thing he heard was a gun going off before he saw who it was.

"Nat."

There, in all her glory, was the Black Widow. She had a scratch on her cheek and a busted lip, but other than that she looked pretty okay, standing over a pile of dead Red Room goonies. "James?" She had a confused look on her face as she walked over to him. Not being able to stop himself, he enveloped her in his arms.

"What are you doing here?" Surprise was evident in her voice as she wrapped her own arms around his torso.

"Your accountant called. Told me you were missing."

"Yeah, well, I'm _working._ " She rested her cheek on his chest and his hand on her head as if to keep her in place. Bucky has long accepted that Natasha's hold on him wasn't going to go away no matter how difficult things got for them. He was always going to have her back, and he knew deep down, if ever he needed her, she'd come for him too. Maybe  _that_ was love.

"You guys are sweet. I'm living for this."

The pair pulled away then and when James looked back, his eyes found Kate leaning against the doorway, wiping some blood off one of her arrows against the coat he gave her. Maybe SHIELD wouldn't notice if one of their winter gear was missing, he thought. They definitely weren't returning it blood-stained.

"Kate?" Natasha approached her but looked back at Bucky, the expression on her face changed. "I can't believe you brought Kate."

"What?" Kate protested, pushing herself off the doorframe and popping the arrow back into her case. "Your boyfriend needed back up and called for a Hawkeye."

"I called for _Barton_ _,_ " Bucky interjected.

"Clint doesn't know you're here, does he?" Natasha said, genuinely concerned.

Kate only smirked at Bucky who was standing next to Natasha now, the realization of what he'd done dawning over him. He didn't know if he was going to be mad at Kate or himself. She should have stayed home, he should have sent her home. "I can't believe this."

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I have girls to round up."

"How many?" Bucky asked. He stopped himself from standing any closer. It was weird enough that they weren't really together-together, but Kate was enjoying this too much and he wasn't going to let her have it.

"Seven." Natasha started walking in the direction that the two women ran towards earlier. "The facility looks like a grid but some of it overlaps, like a maze that doesn't make sense. It makes it hard for prisoners to get out."

"How about the explosions?" Kate walked closely beside Natasha, catching up with her stride. Bucky fell behind, watching out for any attackers from the back.

"I shut down the east wing and the northern quadrant. Closing off the maze made it more navigatable." Natasha drew her gun and shot the two men that tried to approach them before she continued talking. "The Red Room wasn't always this complicated. It was just a house."

Kate let out a small chuckle. She was smiling when Natasha quirked an eyebrow at her. "Nothing, that's what he said too."

Natasha's features softened but they kept moving. Kate fell a step back and gave Bucky finger guns, to which he just rolled his eyes. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Barton had no idea Kate was with him in Russia, but he didn't regret taking her. As long as he kept an eye out for the kid, she was going to be fine.

"Clint told me you were going to Los Angeles," Natasha said after a while. Bucky didn't know this, not that he had to but she talked for the majority of their trip and gave him unnecessary details about her life, but not this. 

"Yeah, I am, I don't know. He's being weird. Weirder than usual."

Bucky followed them through the maze, the talking was kept to a minimal after that, mostly about how Natasha managed to get captured by the Red Room and why. They needed the new trainees to be like her and thought she could be their final test, but it turned out  _no one_ could come close to the original. "Let me guess, you had a _good_ teacher." Kate shot Bucky another pair of finger guns and he actually managed a laugh this time - well, a smile at least. Natasha's mission was to save the girls and get them out of the system before it was too late for them. These girls were a little older, seventeen or eighteen, she couldn't remember exact details. They were good, but they lacked instinct. 

When they rounded yet another corner, one of the girls came out of the shadows and tried to tackle Natasha but she only did so much before she was the one on her stomach with her arm pinned to her back. " _I am not your enemy, little girl,_ " Natasha said in Russian. " _I am here to save you._ "

" _Liar. Traitor._ " The girl yelled, trying to get out of the Black Widow's grip. 

Bucky was about to speak when another girl tried her luck with him. She shot at him but he deflected it with his metal arm. She tried to do a roundhouse kick while he was looking down at where the bullet dented the arm. Big mistake and very predictable, Bucky had her against the wall in seconds. "They don't train them like they used to."

"Well, they don't have you anymore," Natasha said as she pulled the girl up on her feet. 

Kate could only watch, a smirk on her face. Bucky gave her a look as if to tell her to not do the finger guns, but she did anyway. They were quiet on their way to the cell where the Widow confined the others. It was mostly just the girls yelling in Russian, calling them traitors and deflectors. It had no effect on either of them. Kate, however, was intrigued. "What are they saying?"

"They're calling us deflectors. And also, dog shit." Bucky shrugged and tightened the grip she had on the girl's arm. 

"What'll happen to them?"

"They'll probably undergo years of therapy so that they can readjust and join the real world again, but they'll be on SHIELD's radar for the rest of their lives." It was Natasha who answered now. She's called Hill to assist, the nearest carrier was a couple of hours away at least. All they needed to do was wait for them to get there and they were off, off to start new beginnings after being messed with by the Red Room. Bucky sincerely hoped they'd adjust, but he knew it was hard. It wasn't an easy task getting rid of memories implanted in your brain, even more difficult to differentiate reality from fiction.

Kate and Natasha continued to talk about the whole Los Angeles thing while Bucky kept a tight eye on the girls who sat in a row. Seven. He could see that some of them had healing bruises, probably from training. A lot of them avoided eye contact, but some of them dared to stare him down. They'd look away when he'd reach for his gun though. They were tough but they were mostly afraid. The Red Room instilled fear in all of their trainees. It was a way to control them. That was something Natasha never let him see when he was training her - fear. She didn't fear him, his reputation, or his arm. It was one of the reasons why he took an interest. 

It only took SHIELD about an hour to get there and take the girls. They assured Natasha that they were going to get the treatment they needed in order to live normal lives again before leaving the three of them. Bucky half expected for Natasha to go with the SHIELD agents, but she stayed and told him that she needed a ride home. Wherever _that_ was, he wasn't quite sure, but he was thankful she asked.

As for Kate, she trailed behind the two of them on their way back to the quinjet. They couldn't remember where they left the motorcycle - yet another thing Bucky wasn't returning to SHIELD. He let the girls change before coming in and taking his place in the cockpit beside Natasha, Kate in the seat behind his. She was on her phone, typing away when they ascended. They were all pretty tired so he understood the quiet that came over them as they made their way back home, it was a comfortable silence. Natasha finally talked with her accountant when it was the proper waking hours in his timezone, reassuring him that she was okay. Bucky let himself relax for the first time in days. He hadn't even realized he was watching Natasha the whole time that she was speaking. 

"Hey, Romeo," Kate whispered, leaning forward so that he could hear. "Just ask her out or something."

"Kate."

"I can hear you, you know." Natasha commented before going back to talk to the accountant. Kate definitely wasn't a good whisperer.

"I know. That's the point. Just kiss and make up."

"Go to sleep, Kate," Bucky said.

"I'm just saying-"

" _Hawkeye._ Time to sleep." Bucky looked at her then and he could tell she was fighting off sleep for some reason. "I'll wake you when we get home."

Amazingly, she did as she was told. After a few more minutes of typing away on her phone, she put some earbuds in and went to sleep. The journey home felt longer than the journey getting there, but he chalked it up to Kate and her stories. They were about to cross the Atlantic when Natasha woke up from her nap. It was a real nap too, not just those naps where she closed her eyes while all of her senses were still on high alert. It was more like a short sleep than a nap, too. She must have been exhausted. Hell,  _he_ was exhausted. All he wanted to do was go back to his apartment and sleep for a good eight hours, but he needed to pilot the jet. 

"James," she said, turning to her side and crossing her legs. Sleep was still in her eyes. He could tell she was still tired from the mission but she looked comfortable in the SHIELD hoodie she grabbed from one of the storage compartments. She looked beautiful.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

He didn't ask for what, he didn't need to hear it. The look on her face, the way she looked at him - it was still the same, it was like nothing bad had happened between them, like the circumstances that brought them to them falling apart and coming together were just minor problems they had to deal with. He didn't count on her still feeling anything for him, not after all the stupid shit he's done and the time they've spent apart this time, but it was a comfort for him to know that whatever he felt, she felt it too. "Anything for you, Natalia."

"God, get a room." Kate groaned but turned in her chair to face away from them, pulling up the blanket she had on her higher so that it covered her face. Natasha smiled at that and at him and he couldn't help but smile back. 

It was another two hours before they got back to the hangar. The sun was about to rise and Kate still had a blanket wrapped around her as they exited the jet. Bucky was carrying her luggage and bow for her. He needed to get her home.

"So, where should I drop you off, Hawkeye?"

"Bed Stuy? I don't know. Pretty sure he's going to be mad when he sees me."

"Kate," Natasha said, holding onto the girl's hand. "Clint is weird as hell and messed up. Very messed up. Especially when it comes to people. And it's a result of people in his life not being very good to him, myself included. But you, _you're_ good for him. He just needs to realize that."

Kate nodded and pulled Natasha in for a hug, something the older woman didn't see coming. "I swear to god Mr. Winter Soldier if you don't ask her out on a date, I will."

Bucky rolled his eyes but Natasha gave him a knowing look as she hugged Kate back. When the young Hawkeye pulled away, she thanked Natasha and sauntered off to the car which she assumed was Bucky's (another thing he was borrowing).

Natasha and Bucky followed behind her but gave themselves a bit of space. "So, where are you off to now?" Bucky asked cautiously, pulling Kate's bag of arrows onto his shoulder.

"I don't know. My apartment, maybe. I need to take a long shower."

He only nodded, his eyes trained on his feet for some reason. 

"You wanna tag along? Could be dangerous. I might need back up." 

He looked up then, quirking an eyebrow at her. Natasha just smiled at him, that smile she did just for him. He was being so good at keeping his distance, giving her the space she needed. He never expected her to come back to him, to choose him even after everything that's happened. 

"Hey, love birds, let's go." Kate was already by the car, waiting for them. 

"I need to drop off this one first and get a beating from Barton. Will you wait for me?"

"You know I will." 

Now, _that_ was different. That was an answer he definitely wasn't expecting. Still, it was an answer he liked. Natasha took an Uber back to her place while James drove Kate back to Brooklyn. She kept trying to stay awake but she faded every couple of minutes. It was cute. When they pulled up in front of an old building in Brooklyn, a familiar blonde annoyance was sitting on the steps that led up to the place. Bucky braced himself for the yelling but Clint didn't even look at him and instead went over to inspect every inch of her for scratches and bruises. "I'm fine, Hawkeye." Kate gave him another of her smirks. "Nothing a nice cup of coffee won't fix." 

"I was worried sick, Katie. What the hell?" Clint finally realized Bucky was standing awkwardly behind her then. "I would have killed you if anything happened, _Barnes._ "

"That's why I brought her back in one piece, _Barton._ Besides, she's fucking Hawkeye. She can handle herself."

Kate grinned then and took her things from Bucky, Clint took her luggage for her and led her up the stairs, grumbling something about Bucky under his breath the whole time. "That was fun. We should do that again sometime." Kate looked up at Bucky, the grin still plastered on her face. She looked so sleepy.

"Yeah, I guess you were okay." He shrugged, but he truly wouldn't mind if she tagged along for another mission. Maybe not on missions that involve cross-continental air travel, but she was good.

"Good luck with your thing." Kate offered him a handshake and he took it, an agreement of sorts. Maybe they were friends now.

"And good luck with yours." He looked up at Clint who was waiting for them to finish, yawning as he leaned against the door frame. He was a mess but Bucky can relate to that. He gave Kate one last nod and watched the Hawkeyes close the door behind them before he drove off to the direction of Natasha's apartment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave comments and kudos. Thanks for reading! <3


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